Firetruck in sinkhole fiasco throws spotlight on Montreal road repairs budget

In a city where you can't seem to avoid construction and potholes, even the firetrucks can't catch a break.

It took two hours for a Montreal firetruck to be pulled from a sinkhole in the city's downtown on Wednesday.

The truck was approaching the corner of Stanley Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard when it appears the road gave out under the truck's weight.

It's just the latest example of Montreal's poor road conditions, and it's not just a downtown problem.

"It's years and years of neglect. The average age of infrastructure is 40 years," said CAA Quebec spokesperson David Marcille.

The Opposition at City Hall says in recent years, Montreal cut its budget for road repairs.

"We have a $260 million-dollar cut in the repairs of the roads between 2018 and 2022," said Opposition leader Aref Salem.

The Plante administration said it would not comment on the firetruck incident except to say it would look into what caused the hole.

The city spent an additional $50 million this year alone to improve roads and will spend $880 million over the next 10 years, said a city spokesperson.

"You cannot just give numbers of $800 million dollars in 10 years. It seems like a big number. We know we have around 4,400 km of streets. $80 million is not much," said Salem.

To make matters worse, the road that gave out was recently repaved.

The hole has since been covered. The north end of Stanley and De Maisonneuve is closed to traffic.